Chapter 24 Sections 2 and 3

The Rise of DictatorsHitler and the Nazis

I. The Rise of Dictators• Between 1919 and 1939,

all the majors countries of Europe except France and Great Britain had adopted some form of dictatorial government

• A new form of dictatorship was the modern totalitarian state

• Totalitarian governments aimed to control all aspects of the citizen’s lives

• They wanted to control the hearts and minds of everyone and used mass propaganda and modern communication to achieve their goals

• A single leader and a single party let the totalitarian states

• there were no individual freedoms of limits to government power

• Individuals were considered subservient to the will of the masses

II. Fascism in Italy• Benito Mussolini in Italy

established the first European Fascist government in the early 1920’s

• Fascism glorifies the state above the individual. A strong central government and a single dictator run the state

• Italy suffered sever economic problems after WWI.

• There was a great deal of social upheaval. Many Italians were afraid that there might be a Communist takeover as in Russia and Mussolini’s movement gained wide support.

• Mussolini formed groups of armed Fascists called Blackshirts who attacked socialists and strikers and anyone who opposed fascism

• Mussolini appealed to nationalist pride among Italians.

• He demanded that Italy get more land from the peace treaties of WWI.

• In 1922, Mussolini had enough followers that he forced the Italian king to make him his prime minister.

• As prime minister, Mussolini created a Fascist dictatorship. He added extensive powers to the government and was given the power to pass laws by decree

• The police were given authority to arrest anyone

• In 1926, the Fascists outlawed all opposition

• They set up a secret police

• At the end of 1926 Mussolini was the only ruler of Italy, he was called Il Duce

• Mussolini used the secret police to control the people, the fascists also controlled mass-media outlets

• They used the media to spread pro-fascist propaganda. The fascists created youth groups that focused on military activities

• While the Italian fascists tried to create a new nation of fit, disciplined, and war-loving people, they still maintained traditional values about the important place of women and families in society

• Mussolini never achieved the total control over Italy that Hitler and Stalin did.

• Mussolini still recognized the sovereign independence of the Vatican in Rome and Catholicism as the state religion

III. A New Era in the Soviet Union• In the early 1920’s,

millions died in Russia during a great famine caused by a drought. Industrial output was reduced to 20 percent of that of 1913.

• In 1921, Lenin created the New Economic Policy

• NEP- Peasants could sell produce and small businesses could be privately owned. The government still controlled heavy industries and banking

• In 1922, the Communists created the USSR or Soviet Union

• In 1924, Lenin died and a bitter struggle for power in the Politburo ensued.

• The Politburo was a committee that controlled the policies of the Communist Party

• ½ of the Politburo wanted to end the NEP and industrialized the nation at the expense of the peasants

• Another ½ wanted to continue the NEP and build a socialist state

• Joseph Stalin was the general secretary of the Politburo, he used his position to gain complete control over the Communist Party

• By 1929 he had become a powerful dictator

• Stalin ended the NEP and started Five Year Plans that set economic goals for five year periods

• During the five year plans, urban housing was terrible, wages declined and propaganda was used to boost morale

• Stalin also collectivized agriculture

• Collectivization was a system in which the government took over ownership of private farms and had the peasants work them

• Many peasants protested and were killed

• In the early 1930’s, millions of Russians starved to death due to food shortages from collectivization

• Those who resisted Stalin’s programs were sent to Siberian forced labor camps

• Stalin overturned laws protecting the rights of women and others

IV. Authoritarian States in the West• Authoritarian

governments replaced parliamentary systems in many eastern European nations

• General Franco used the military forces in Spain to set up an authoritarian dictatorship in 1939

Hitler and Nazi Germany

I. Hitler and His Views• Adolph Hitler was born

in Austria and was an extreme nationalist who understood the use of propaganda and terror

• Hitler served on the Western Front during WWI and following the war he joined a nationalist part in Munich

• By 1921, Hitler was in control of the party and renamed it the National Socialist German Workers Party

• Hitler’s party staged an uprising in which he was arrested and jailed

• During his time in jail he wrote Mein Kampf (an autobiography)

• In Mein Kampf Hitler outlined his ideas and plans combining German nationalism, anti-Semitism, and anticommunism

II. Rise of Nazism• By 1929, the Nazis had a

national party organization and by 1931, it was the largest political party in the Reichstag, or parliament

• Extreme political parties were attractive to people in desperate situations

• Hitler appealed to national pride and militarism to gain the support of the German people

III. Victory of Nazism• In 1933, the Nazis

pressured President Hindenburg to allow Hitler to become chancellor and create a new government

• In two months, the Nazis were in complete control and passed the Enabling Act

• The Enabling act allowed the government to ignore the constitution for four years and pass laws to deal with the nation’s problems, this allowed Hitler to become the dictator

• Jews were blamed for Germany’s problems and were purged from civil services, trade unions were also dissolved

• Concentration camps were set up for anyone who disagreed with the Nazi party

• Hitler became known as the Fuhrer (leader

IV. The Nazi State• Hitler wanted to develop

an Aryan racial state to dominate Europe and the world

• Hitler wanted the Germans to create a new empire like the Ancient Roman empire

• Hitler called his empire the Third Reich

• Hitler controlled the country through mass rallies, organizations and terror

• The SS or “Guard Squadrons” controlled all the police forces using terror, murder and death camps

• Hitler put people back to work through public works projects

• Women were considered special in Germany because they were the bearers of Aryan children and they were encouraged to stay at home

• In 1935, the Nuremberg laws were passed which prevented Jews from being German citizens, forbade marriages between Jews and German citizens and required Jews to wear yellow stars of David

• Kristallnacht on the night of November 9, 1938 was when Nazis burned Jewish synagogues and destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses

• After kristallnacht Jews were barred from public transportation, schools, and hospitals, they were encouraged to leave Germany